In next week’s Summer Council Meeting to be held on August 26th there are three Notices of Motion put on the agenda by the Mayor. When one reads these it should be obvious to the reader that these are “hot-button” electoral items and ‘red-meat’ for his base. Again these are professionally written and not just ‘back of the envelope’ jottings. Which makes us at the BR wonder just who is directing the Mayor’s election campaign? For many weeks, all through the ‘will-he, won’t-he’ period leading up to the Mayor’s registration as a candidate we had heard that high-powered out of town campaign help was involved in his electoral activities.

But back to the motions. 

First motion – read it here

This is about the possibility of the County receiving Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) funds. The motion is a long one, but the important part is this “NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT this Council states plainly and publicly that it does not support the Town of Cobourg being considered as a location for any drug rehabilitation center, HART Hub, Drug Campus of Care, or any comparable consolidated care facility funded or directed by Northumberland County or the Province of Ontario”

This has been tailored to satisfy all of the “hang-em-high” crowd that supports him and now the newly announced candidate for Deputy Mayor – Johnny Percolides and put the boots to all of those on the other side, one that supports the provision of services to the unhoused and indigents. The lines in this debate are being clearly drawn between him and those he derides as “enablers”.

Second motion – read it here

This one is about the “unfunded Liability” problem that exists in the Town’s finances. It is a well known problem already identified by two sources KPMG and the Mayor’s own “Budget Task Force”. The motion is to bring a report previously discussed in closed session to the daylight for further discussion. However the way this motion is written is that the Mayor lays the blame on previous Councils and previous administration. Both of these inferences should be construed as “campaigning from the Chair”.

“WHEREAS, that $14 million is marked unaudited, and that as of today, Council still has no audited 2024 statements and no audited 2025 numbers, more than nineteen months after the 2024 year closed; and beyond the provincial reporting requirements for both 2024 and 2025; and

WHEREAS residents of Cobourg are to vote in October 2026 and are being asked to judge this Council’s handling of money without an audited number newer than 2023, the first year of this council’s term; and”

The obvious question is – Why are you bringing to the attention of your voters a topic of discussion that you, as head of Council should have fixed two years ago!

The third motion – read it here

is a motion that asks for a committee to study, line by line, the operational side of the Police Department

“NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council request the Cobourg Police Service Board immediately commission an independent, line-by-line operational and financial review of the Cobourg Police Service, examining at minimum: staffing levels and shift scheduling; the balance of sworn officers to civilian staff; supervisory ratios; court security and prisoner transport; the structure, costs, and net contribution of the Business Centre; and facilities and fleet — and that the review clearly distinguish those costs the Service is required by provincial legislation to carry from those that reflect local decisions of the Board or the Service; and”

Again if the Mayor was really serious he would have put this motion to Council months ago not six weeks before an election. This is a serious motion but has been devalued by the introduction during an election campaign.

My advice to the rest of council is not to give the Mayor a seconder when the agenda is before them on Wednesday 26th